Ok,

Here's SWMBO's latest Fabia vRS;

It's a 2005 '05' model, and it's had 2 owners before her, a pair of mature brothers (not boy-racers!) and has only done 40,000 miles with full history.

The Black Magic paint is virtually unmarked, as are the alloys, which is a bonus, although at some point I think they'll be refinished in a shadow chrome finish.

The first owner had heated front seats fitted as a factory option which is nice for the winter, especially as I've got a degenerative back condition....

Already done;

Milltek stainless exhaust

Jabbasport remap

PD 160 air intake

K&N panel filter (I think, although Ill check this weekend and fit one if not...!!!)

Front strut brace

Grooved and drilled discs front & rear plus uprated pads

Pioneer AVH-3300BT double-din head unit

Pioneer TS-WX77A Amp in boot

Heko front Wind deflectors

Time and cash providing, SWMBO is intending to undertake the following;

HID's for dipped and main beam (already bought, not yet fitted)

PD150 head bolts

RARB

Polo rear wiper

EGR delete

De-tango

Reverse parking sensors or camera (to link up with the Pioneer head unit)

Poly bushes

FMIC

312/256 mm f/r brakes

Uprated clutch

As you can see, some mods will be primarily for reliability or with a view to future upgrades (EGR delete, PD150 head bolts and poly bushes), the others a mixture of aesthetics (de-tango, polo rear wiper), or 'want' (reverse parking sensors or camera)

The FMIC and RARB will only be bought when SWMBO goes for the next power upgrade.

I know, I know, she will the want a hybrid turbo, bigger injectors, better clutch etc..... But she used to ride a Yamaha R6, so you probably can tell she likes her speed.

Anyway, a quick summary;

when the car was bought, it had some of PastyBoys badging, namely on the bonnet, boot and wheel centre caps in a carbon fibre finish.

SWMBO decided to keep the centre caps, but bought the latest style Skoda badges (black and chrome - see the Images) for the bonnet and boot. However, she likes the look of the rear (i.e. not having the Fabia or vRS badging) so wants to keep it that way.

I did say 'the' rear, not 'her' rear, didn't I? Just checking.

Me? I'd go for a mk2 Fabia and vRS badge.

But she wears the trousers, cos she says so.....

With regards to the paintwork, it wasn't bad to be fair, but me being me, I decided to give it a quick machine polish.

I say 'quick'.

I meant it took me 2 days (I AM disabled, things take me a while)

Of course this was after the usual wash, rinse, clay, wash, rinse, 2-stage polish, and before 2 layers of glaze, 2 layers of sealant and 2 layers of wax (all Chemical Guys products).

Not bad for an old cripple (yep, I can use that word, as a. I am one, and b. I'm talking about me!)

To be fair, the car really looks great, just got to get the seats cleaned (again, they're not too bad, but SWMBO really likes everything to be squeaky. Clean, that is....).

To clean the seats I'll be asking my dear brother-in-law to get them out for me (I can't manage them on my own due to my useless back...) prior to using the wet & dry vac on them.

Oh, and I've just noticed I forgot to clean the exhaust, and alloy wheels before taking the images; sorry!

So, that's SWMBO's car in a nut shell, I'll try to update this thread as and when upgrades are made.

Nice,clean example.

Look forward to your plans

Thank you!

Looks good mate..

My wife uses one too,

Great cars..

If you need a rear wiper blank,give us a shout.

Looks good!

Hybrid turbo is well worth it!

Thanks!

Would pd150 injectors be appropriate at this level of tune, or should they be considered after a FMIC, and before oar at the same time as a hybrid?

Thanks!

Would pd150 injectors be appropriate at this level of tune, or should they be considered after a FMIC, and before oar at the same time as a hybrid?

Standard injectors will be fine with a FMIC and hybrid turbo that's what I'm using and many other members, they will flow upto around 230bhp.

Thanks for that, that's another 'saving' then, and something I don't need to justify to SWMBO!

I'd looked for flow rates and a comparison to PD150 injectors but came up blank.

Thanks for that, that's another 'saving' then, and something I don't need to justify to SWMBO!

I'd looked for flow rates and a comparison to PD150 injectors but came up blank.

You could get bigger injectors but not much point unless your going for a big GTB turbo or something.

I sometimes wish of gone for a big turbo!

To be fair SWMBO uses her car for a mix of school run, business and pleasure, so a hybrid, or a really large turbo is probably not worth it in the main.

Ergo, the big injectors are also probably not worth the expense etc, so I think she will stick with possibly a FMIC AND PD150 head bolts engine-wise (not forgetting the egr delete).

It probably makes more sense to have the RARB and poly bushes (which her previous vRS had) fitted.

Why are you upgrading the head bolts? The standard ones will be fine and I very much doubt you will experience any head lift. My hybrid Fabia has been fine on standard head bolts

FMIC only really beneficial if she is flooring it for prolonged periods. For the odd blip and overtaking etc SMIC would do fine.

Prevention is better than cure, and I'm looking at future-proofing.

I've had various performance cars over the years, and I've always prioritised reliability, makes sense to me.

Amazing how many Sierra Cosworths had warbled inter coolers just from a genuine Ford 270bhp upgrade (my first 3dr had an upgrade to 270bhp by Brooklyn's Ford, and suffered the same, so replaced it with an upgraded inter cooler, Gp A head gasket and bolts).

Jus about to de-tango now, bulbs came yesterday but as it was slinging it down I didn't venture out.

I'll take some 'before' and 'after' shots.

I'm also looking at installing a pair of Cree 5w 382 bulbs for the reversing lights, those I've seen make it look like daylight when they're on (ok, I exaggerate, but a damn sight brighter than standard bulbs!)

So, fitted the indicator bulbs this morning, look so much better now they have the de-tangoed look.

Then I looked at swapping over the dipped and main beams to HIDs, bought from HIDS4U.

SWMBO had ordered 2 kits, one for dipped, and one for main beam.

Excellent kits, a very high quality package.

Surprised myself by finding that the white wire to the headlights is the live on the Fabia, meaning the red wire from the Hid connects to the white.

Ho hum, very day is like a day at school...

Anyway, dipped beam fitted fairly easily, although the ballasts size mean placing them in the cramped under bonnet area needs thinking about.

Went to fit the main beam and found that the company had erroneously sent two H7 dipped beam kits, instead of one H7, and one H3 main beam kit.

Unfortunately the company are shut at the weekend, so first thing Monday morning it looks like being a phone call to the help desk department....

Images to be posted later.

One thing I never thought of, the sidelights, being white, now look awful, so I'll be swapping those over ASAP....

Regarding injectors the 130 and 150s use the same injectors. Rest of the plans sound good though.

Thanks Joe, hopefully it'll all come together well! And I didn't know that re injector size - everyday is a day at school!

Spoke with Hids4u this morning, very helpful and admitted that the wrong kit had been sent out for the main beam, so I'm returning just the bulbs and wiring for one H7 kit and they area ending me an H3 bulb and wiring kit by return.

Think I may go the whole hog and get a pair of '501-canbus-super-bright-350-degree-5-led-bulbs LED' for the side lights, and a pair of '382-ultimate-canbus-92-smd-led-bulbs' for the reverse lights from them at the same time....

Any update buddy?

Not at the moment, I'm a bit hamstrung at the moment as my back has gone (where?); one of my vertebra has slipped over the other and caused the nerves in my back and legs to be trapped (my ongoing lower back condition) so my brother in law is going to come to the rescue......

Also, HiDs4U were excellent, they dispatched the replacement kits immediately and I got them the very next day! I'd thoroughly recommend them, excellent kits (non of this cheap Chinese crape!), excellent aftercare as well.

I'll post an update and images as soon as the sidelights and main beam Re fitted.

SWMBO is very happy with the dipped beam kit, a total transformation in nighttime visibility.

Bit slow on the update front I'm afraid, as I've been suffering prolonged ill health.

Anyway, took the vRS into Chesterfield VW Specialist last week, for a full service (all filters, fluids etc), and a brake issue.

The brake issue was that when SWMBO depressed the pedal, then had to brake again quickly then they pedal went hard with little retardation. Turns out the pipe from the servo was split at the end, allowing vacuum to escape. Nothing that Mike hadn't seen dozens of times (in fact he had an identical car int he following day, with the same issue.

Top and bottom is a bill for just over £130 for the whole lot, and an attention to detail that should make Main Stealers weep, although Mike and Alex have worked in the VAG network for donkey's years in total.

SWMBO is having the car back there in a month for a clutch replacement. Only 42k on the clock, but the previous owner must have ridden the clutch pedal, the buffoon....

Still looking for a used Whiteline RARB, and a price to fit a full set of poly bushes.

Removing, cleaning and refitting the egr valve is next......